Are You Human Too? is a sci-fi melodrama about a robot (Seo Kang Joon) that is brought in to impersonate a chaebol heir who is in a coma during a corporate power struggle. He develops a close bond with his bodyguard (Gong Seung Yeon) as he learns about humans and discovers who he is.

Seo Kang Joon plays dual roles as the the human Nam Shin and the robot Nam Shin III. Human Nam Shin was taken from his mom when he was young and was raised by his rich and greedy family. And this resulted in him being a pretty selfish and hot tempered man. But an accident lands him in a coma which jeopardizes his position as well his entire life.

Nam Shin III was made to fill a hole in his mom’s heart for her real son. And he is such a kind and lovable robot who seriously likes his mom and wants to please her. He also wants to protect humans and has a habit of hugging them when they cry. So when he is directed to impersonate human Nam Shin, he jumps right in and does what he can to protect human Nam Shin’s life.

Gong Seung Yeon plays Shin’s bodyguard So Bong. Life has thrown her a couple curve balls that has resulted in her doing what she can to make some extra cash. Even if it’s by less than honest means.

I like that her character is different from many female leads with her being a bodyguard as well as being a bit cynical and out for money in the beginning. But she’s a good person, and it was nice watching her slowly open up her heart and eventually become Shin III’s biggest advocate.

Lee Joon Hyuk is Secretary Ji Young Hoon. He’s human Shin’s right hand man and also steps into that position for Shin III. He’s incredibly loyal to human Shin which creates some confusion for him as he grows closer to robot Shin III.

We have our greedy villain Seo Jong Gil (Yoo Oh Sung) who is out to take down Shin and get more power. I always enjoy Yoo Oh Sung’s performances. He makes a great villain and adds little nuances to his character. And this was a perfect example of an entertaining villain that you love to hate.

And then there’s Grandpa (Park Young Kyu) who is the head of the company and will do whatever he feels is necessary to protect it, even if it requires putting the company before his family.

Finally, we have Shin’s mom Oh Ro Ra (Kim Sung Ryung). She’s the robotics engineer who created Shin III because she was heartbroken without her son. And when she has the chance to help him, she is willing to do whatever she can, even if it dangerous for Shin III.

I’ve been wanting to check out another sci-fi kdrama since they are few and far between. So Are You Human Too? had me excited on many levels. And lucky for me, I seriously enjoyed this drama!

It ended up being a mix of melodrama and sci-fi with a dash of rom-com. It was a combination that worked well for me. I also got more and more into the show as it went along as the stakes for the characters grew, the tension thickened, and secrets being revealed caused varying levels of trouble. It was a fun ride!

Shin III and So Bong are pretty cute as a couple. He’s the sweet one while she is more cynical in the beginning. It’s an ironic relationship in that the robot is the one who starts to make the human feel and experience love in a way she didn’t know. But that also leads to him learning what love is.

Of course, one of my favorite things in the drama was the exploration of Shin III’s humanity. Does he have feelings? How should he treated? Does his life matter? They make Shin III so easy to root for because of his sweet personality, cute smile, and even an awkward sense of humor. Though just because he looks like a human doesn’t necessarily mean he is like a human. But we eventually start to see that he does experience his own type of robot “feelings” such as when he exhibits a sort of sadness over his mom focusing on the human Shin.

Then he becomes more and more protective over So Bong. He becomes attached to her which we know is him beginning to have these robot feelings for her. He doesn’t “feel” in the human sense, but he begins to develop his own unique robot equivalent. Watching him grow and explore that was lovely to see. But he has to go through some serious challenges as he tries to discover himself as well as protect the ones he cares for. My heart really went out to him!

And So Bong is special because she eventually sees him as his own person. He may not be human, but he is sentient, has a personality, and deserves to be treated respectfully. It’s her treating him as his own person that allows him to also see himself that way and begin to explore who he is. And that eventually leads him to care for her.

But there is ultimately a message that while feelings are important, actions have the ability to carry great weight. Shin’s actions conveyed his “feelings” and values and that is what allowed So Bong and everyone else to know he cared for them. It really is quite beautiful.

There are some interesting family dynamics in the drama as well. Honestly, this is a pretty messed up family. There are also business power plays too. I liked how all of it was laid out, and I was never bored with the business or family stuff.

I will admit the drama is a bit messy in terms of execution though. There are a lot of little continuity errors and inconsistencies in the finer details. Sometimes early on I found it a bit cheesy at times too.

For maximum enjoyment of this drama, you definitely need to turn off the analytical part of your brain. There are so many little things that you need to turn a blind eye to and try not to pick apart. If you can get past that, there really is a lot to enjoy about the story, the characters, and the drama as a whole.

SPOILERS NEXT 4 PARAGRAPHS

Although there are a ton of interesting relationships I could explore, one that I found really intriguing was that of human Shin and robot Shin III. It’s a tricky situation that these two find themselves in. Of course, none of it is Shin III’s fault. He was created and instructed what to do. Then he always tried to put others first.

Well, human Shin is none to happy that there is a robot running around with his face and pretending to be him. His reaction is actually completely understandable. But Shin is a difficult character on many levels. On one hand, he has a pretty awful childhood and has every reason to want revenge and to be not so nice. He feels abandoned and alone. But this causes him to lash out in some truly horrible ways.

I kept trying and trying to have sympathy for him, but it became harder the more I saw of him. Although many of his feelings were valid, he was just so blinded by them that he couldn’t see the potential good in his life. And the way he hurts everyone around him just became more and more difficult to watch.

I was waiting for that moment where he realized the error of his ways, and well, it took until like the last episode to get it. I’m definitely glad he finally came around and was able to do something redeeming, but I still don’t care for him much, lol. At least he helped save our lovely Shin III so he could be reunited with the woman he loves 🙂

END OF SPOILERS

Overall, Are You Human Too? was a fun story that took me on some very wonderful character journeys. The romance was sweet and connected well with the overall story. The show was thoughtful with a beautiful message. I enjoyed it’s melodramatic qualities with a dose of action as well as that it was able to build up the tension more and more throughout the drama. There are a few twists and plenty of excitement all the way through the final episode. And all that makes for a pretty great experience all around.

42 Responses to Are You Human Too? Korean Drama Review

Well, this one of course was already on my list, but a 8.5 score is definitely a very good rating😀 I always love these kind of stories where whether it’s an alien, robot or something else is asking questions of it’s humanity. I’m not one that is usually bothered by continuity errors unless they are so huge that it completely ruins the series. But that doesn’t seem to be the case here. Overall I’m looking forward to seeing this one! Great post 😉

Same here! I’m suck a sucker for stories like this where a character explores his humanity as well as the complicated romantic pairing. And I don’t think most of the errors are big. Small stuff here and there. And being the nature of the drama, some stuff is a bit illogical, but I don’t get to bothered by that sort of thing. I hope you enjoy it when you get to see it 🙂

Oh I didn’t like this one. I thought it was pedestrian and sometimes a little dumb.

The entire plot was that of every sageuk ever made. The whole thing would have played out exactly the same with ‘Prince’s Poor Doppelganger’ instead of the Robot. There were times it surprised me and even intrigued me. But every time it was original and surprising, it quickly reverted to type in the most pedestrian way possible. There were moments I completely loved but many more in which I was bored or frustrated.

In particular I thought the final two episodes were particularly bad, especially the random happy ending they slapped on.

The one reason this kdrama never met its full potential, IMHO, is that it was too busy being a kdrama.

I can actually see where you’re coming from. Luckily, I’m a big fan of traditional kdramas. That’s why I watch them, hehe 😉 And I agree, I do think the story is very much structured like a historical. I really liked that aspect though. I found it refreshing in that it felt like an older low key style melo with some extras. Of course, I expected we would get a mostly happy ending and figured they would do it in classic kdrama fashion. I just expect it these days, lol. Thankfully, it was a time I was really looking forward to a drama and it paid off. Hopefully, your next drama works out better for you 🙂

Hi Kay – I was waiting for your review on this one as I wanted to share my thoughts. I actually really enjoyed and liked this show throughout the whole way despite of its illogical points. I really enjoyed the characters especially Shin III and even Shin himself because I totally understood how he was feeling. I’m not sure if I’m the minority in this. I actually wanted to seem him change/develop more. However, I am extremely disappointed in the ending though – or in particular the last two episodes. I felt that it didn’t really give me closure on the major point of the story – to be honest – by the end I wasn’t sure what the point even was. In particularly, the last scene to me was extremely disappointing. I felt that they brought Shin III back without any explanation at all just to give a happy ending. This drama reminded me of Misty. I loved Misty until the end. And likewise for this one. But regardless I still really enjoyed the rest of the drama. I even miss Shin III now. What do I do? LOL!!

Well, I’m glad to hear it was at least a mostly enjoyable experience for you 🙂 I also really enjoyed the characters in this drama. Of course, Shin III the most. I do think a lot of people really disliked Shin, including me, lol. Like you, I did totally understand his feelings and why he was acting the way he did, but it was just one of those cases where he just wasn’t coming around. And it seemed like the things he did just got worse and worse. I wish they would have given him more time to change.

Aww, sorry the ending disappointed you. I’ve seen several people mention being disappointed in the last couple eps. That surprised me because I loved them. As for the ending, well, it was exactly what I expected. I just knew this was the kind of drama that would give a happy ending. Then they went about it the classic kdrama way. So many dramas love to use the trope of “killing off” the lead, having a time skip, leaving the romantic interest to grieve, and then randomly pop back up alive and well. I think I’m just used to that since I’ve seen it so many times, hehe.

But what I usually do is just fill in the details they leave out on my own since I think they are usually implied anyways. I just figured that Shin III powered off and fell into the water, but since he was powered off the kill switch didn’t work which was stated before. Plus, he’s resistant to water. So Bong thinks he died. Shin and David eventually get him up, but David has to figure out how to properly restore him and probably deal with some damage. They don’t want to get So Bong’s hopes up so they don’t tell her until they know he is fixable. And then surprise! He’s fixed and shows up for a romantic beach encounter. And just because it was meaningful to Shin III, David gave him some tear ducts so he could express himself better. The end 🙂 As soon as Shin III fell in the water, that’s what I imagined would happen, and I think it fits pretty well. So there’s my take on it, lol.

But you definitely need a good one to follow this. I do too! Good luck to us both 🙂

Wow ok. Thanks for telling me your thoughts about the ending. It does make me feel better somewhat. Clearly I’m not much of an imaginative person. And I did really like the drama a lot. One of my favourite ones in 2018. You are right also that it is a typical kdrama ending and I knew it was going to happen before it did but in this series I just could not accept it. Yes good luck to us for the next good one. 😊 May I please ask which one will you be checking out next?

Haha, sorry for such long comment. I started telling a story and ended up with a new post 🙂 But I seriously understand why endings like that bother most people since they let a lot of things happen off screen, don’t explain them, and can be somewhat open ended. Ideally, things like that really should be included for a more proper ending. But I am glad we both enjoyed the drama 🙂

I’m currently watching Handsome Guy and Jung Eum. 7 eps in. I’m pretty mixed on how I feel about it. Not sure that I would recommend it at this point, lol. Have you decided on a new drama or still looking?

Lol it’s ok. I enjoyed reading your long post. Re Handsome guy – I wasn’t going to watch it and your comment just confirmed it for me. I checked out the first episodes of Gangnam Beauty, Thirty But 17, and familiar wife. I liked all three of them particularly Gangnam beauty. So I’m thinking of leaving them all to binge watch later. Currently watching meteor garden 2018 and will be picking up Mr Sunshine soon.

Good call! Handsome Guy isn’t bad per se, but it’s very generic and plot light. Go for better things! lol All of the dramas you mentioned are on my watch list. I feel like we just came off of a pretty good batch of dramas and then we have another nice batch to enjoy.

What do you think of Meteor Garden? I have not so great luck with most other Asian dramas, but occasionally I have success with one. I’ve had several people recommend it, and I really liked Boys Over Flowers so I do plan to give it a try.

Yes – you are right. We just came off a good batch of dramas and now there’s another batch which is awesome. I am looking forward to 100 Days Husband. So, there’s another one to look forward to.

I did also very much like Boy Over Flowers and I actually did not watch the other versions. The one thing I really disliked about Boys Over Flowers was the female lead. She was extremely annoying. I definitely like the female lead in this version so much better. So, I feel like I’m re-watching a drama that I really liked minus the annoying female lead. It’s definitely a light watch and I’m enjoying it so far. But I keep thinking how Lee Min Ho’s main lead was so awesome. Can’t help but compare. 🙂

I can’t wait for Hundred Days’ Husband too! I’ve been looking forward to that for one a whole now 🙂

Glad to hear you’re enjoying Meteor Garden. I think I got lucky in that I din’td find Jan Di annoying and just ended up completely enamored with everything about Boys Over Flowers. It was only my third drama though, so I think that helped a lot of things. I still didn’t mind her even when I rewatched a a couple years later though. Nostalgia 🙂 I do think I will miss Lee Min Ho. I tried Hana Yori Dango and it didn’t click. So here’s hoping this one does!

This drama has “I didn’t see that coming” moments this drama is good but certainly not memorable SEO Kang Joon is very good his acting skills are impressive and female lead is good too but didn’t like her character so much her development looked pretty unrealistic to me I give 7/10 for this drama the last episodes ruined the drama for me and this drama didn’t make impact on me like Mr. Sunshine

Yes, this was very much a good role for Seo Kang Joon as is really showed his acting skills 🙂 It had a few nice twists too. At least it sounds like you mostly enjoyed it. And I like hearing good things about Mr. Sunshine! I’m excited to check out it out soon too 🙂

By the way, I have already finished my 111st KDrama, Life on Mars last week. Hehehe.

So, here is my K-Dramatic Review on ‘Life on Mars’.
While I truly love Jung Kyung Ho (In fact, he is on my top 10 Favorite Oppas.), Life on Mars didn’t really become a favorite of mine. It is true that JKH did a pretty impressive job in his every drama. From Missing Nine (7.5/10), One More Happy Ending (8.5/10), Falling for Innocence (8.5/10) to here, he always nailed his characters. His character as Han Tae Joo was impressive enough and you can not see even a small similarity of being Seo Joon Oh (in Missing Nine), Kang Min Ho (in Falling for Innocence) and Song Soo Hyuk (in One More Happy Ending) in his role as Han Tae Joo. He’s a cold-hearted logical and smart detective who thinks he is always right and always reveals things that he believes is right eventhough he might hurt the people that surround him. And that role just suits Kyung Ho well. I also enjoy other characters in the drama. The detective ensemble, we have Park Sung Woong, Noh Jong Hyun (he’s cute), Oh Dae Hwan and Go Ah Sung who is my favorite in the drama. She really made her every role memorable to me. Hehehe. Go Ah Sung unni. Saranghaeyo. ❤

While I really like the cast so so much, the drama is a bit boring and boring for me. HAHAHA. I just found the first two-fifths of the drama the most interesting to me. And the rest of it is just a so-so. I got so annoyed in the too repetitive doctor-nurses-parents-friends-and-all calling Han Tae Joo in his subconsciousness while he is in coma. I just couldn't find which to believe too. HAHA, that is why I feel Han Tae Joo's character. XD He thought he is about to go crazy about the time-travel dramatic transformation his life turned to. And I also thought I'll become crazy if I would believe in what was happening in the drama. I just couldn't find answers to my never-ending questions. Well, even Han Tae Joo couldn't answer them. Hahaha. Well, I like the line: "Am I dreaming? Or have I gone crazy? If it's neither of the two, why am I here?"

Yes, I seriously like time-travel dramas but sadly Life on Mars didn't click on me. However, it was still worthy of my time, thanks to the cast and to some scenes / crime cases that they featured. Especially that hostage thingy, that was my favorite part. 🙂 So, my comment is getting very very long, so bye for now!

I enjoyed reading your thoughts on Life on Mars. It will probably be next year before I finish it since I’m still not really feeling it 😛 I had the same feelings as you about Jung Kyung Ho. He’s amazing as always and brought something new to the character of Tae Joo. Of course, he was my favorite part of the drama. The rest of the cast was great too, and I liked the entire ensemble.

But like you, I just found the drama boring! And that’s my number one drama sin, lol. It had some shining spots, but the story felt repetitive and just wasn’t moving along well for me. Which is disappointing because I too love time travel dramas. I’m far enough in that I want to finish, but my score will probably end up lower than yours, hehe. Glad you found it worth your time though 🙂

Well, that’s interesting how you start scoring 🙂 I don’t assign a number in the beginning, but I tend to sort of start with a 7 as a baseline since that it is a solidly good drama for me and then let the number fall or rise as the episodes go. Most of the time I will drop a drama if it falls below a 6 after multiple episodes. Though a few times I will hang in there for a 5. I’ve only ever given a handful of 4’s and then one lone 2. I said never again will I sit though a something less than a 4, lol

Hehehe. On my first year last year, I’ve finished 77 dramas. Thanks to all my leisure extra time. 🙂 But I got a little busier this year so I am sad that I only watched few. Hopefully I could add on more before the year ends. I am excitedly waiting for your year-end posts and K-Drama awards and all. :)))

Yeah, that first year is usually a big one, hehe. I think you even have me beat there though 🙂 I’m trying to get in at least a few more for the year. Aww, I’m glad to hear you’re looking forward to the year end posts. I’ve already started working on them because the Best Drama list is always a monster post, lol. I love going back through all of those wonderful dramas of the year and am excited to get them out there 🙂

Seo Kang Joon is great as always. (His character in Cheese In The Trap (7.5/10) as Baek In Ho is still my most favorite.) Seo Kang Joon doing a dual role as the human Nam Shin and the robot Nam Shin III is just so so good! He nailed it! He made it very memorable and remarkable to me. I liked the robot Shin but I also couldn’t hate the human Shin. Well, despite how ridiculous the human Shin did to the people around him and even to the robot Shin, I just cannot hate and dislike him. I just love the thug-coldhearted side of Seo Kang Joon. Missing Baek In Ho. 😦

While our female lead Gong Seung Yeon is also good. She’s such a great actress and I am keeping my eyes on her future works. 🙂 Her character as Kang So Bong, though not so lovable, she cares and loves our hero Shin unconditionally; a plot which we barely witness in the Dramaland. XD
At first it was okay, but as the romance between her and Nam Shin III grew bigger, I found it uncomfortable and I don’t know what else to say. I’m sorry. 😀 I just wished the human Shin would grow fond of So Bong also and the drama would become too complicated. (Haha it was complicated enough though because of its endless twists and turns. I admire the writer for that.)

I have waited for Are You Human Too for quite a long time since last year. And as it started last few months, I kind of like lost a bit interest in it. So I am glad that I finally checked it out because it was so so good. 🙂

There were also other good characters in the drama. First, of course we have the ever-loyal Ji Young Hoon. He barely smile happily in the entire drama so I was hoping the drama gave some happy ending for him. Things like he would meet and fall in love with a good girl haha. Then Seo Ye Na who was very important in the drama. Thought she’ll be like just a decoration character (I hope you know what I mean) but nah, she quite plays an important role in the drama. Her father, Seo Jong Gil is also so good in his acting. So the only character that I just didn’t get to like is our creator, Dr. Oh Laura. I don’t know I want to understand her but just couldn’t. I am sorry again.

A very nice review of this wonderful drama! Yes, Seo Kang Joon really shined in this drama in the dual roles. I loved Nam Shin III so much! Unlike you, I never did fully come around to human Shin though. I totally understood how he ended up the way he did, but I just never felt enough remorse from him to warm up to him.

I really like Gong Seung Yeon too. Enjoyed her in everything I’ve seen her in. Did you see her in Circle? She was excellent in that 🙂

Ah, not everyone was comfortable with the human/robot romance, so you’re not alone. I know I’m one who likes those “odd” romances though, so I really loved it. And Nam Shin III was just perfect! lol

There were a lot of interesting characters in this drama for sure. Shin’s mom was a difficult one. It’s like on one end I understood her motivation in putting human Shin first, but after all the time she spent with robot Shin, bonding with him, and then all of the terrible things human Shin was doing, I was disappointed in how she continued to act.

But yes, Are You Human Too? was such a wonderful drama overall. We even gave it the same rating this time! I’m glad you really enjoyed it too 🙂

Sureness! Are You Human Too is one of the best and most memorable dramas this year. 🙂 Well wish for it to be aired and dubbed in our country, Philippines so soon.
I also watched her in Introverted Boss (7/10) and Circle (7/10). She’s quite emotional in Introverted Boss and very daring in Circle. Two very different characters that she pulled off. We can conclude that Gong Seung Yeon is one flexible actress, plus she’s so pretty! While I also enjoyed Circle, its story wasn’t my cup of tea. But I’m sure many others really did love it because of its uniqueness. It was in that drama that I began eyeing for the oh-so-talented Yeo Jin Goo. 🙂

She is definitely a flexible actress. I was impressed with her range going from My Only Love Song to Circle. And of course, Are You Human Too was a great outing. I still need to check out Introverted Boss though. And yes, she is so pretty! I love her eyes! I thought it was so neat that both her and Seo Kang Joon with their unique light eyes starred together 🙂

This was my 5th KDrama and i was reluctant to watch. The only reason i decided to watch it was because Jeongyeon’s Sister Gong Seungyeon was in it and i am a hardcore fan of TWICE lol. Anyways, I thought nothing would beat my ultimate favourite Kdrama “Descendants of the Sun” (mind you i haven’t watched goblin yet) but i was wrong. “Are You Human Too” took me by complete surprise and had me hooked from the get go. The incredible CGI effects and editing was definitely intriguing to me as an aspiring filmmaker. But what really caught my attention was idea of a love between a robot and human. The thought itself blew my mind, and sure enough the drama delivered. The many extremely cute scenes between So Bong and Namsin 3 were beautiful and made me fall in love with the main characters. This made me forget about all their flaws in acting (there weren’t many) and overall made this be the perfect drama for me 🙂

Isn’t it so wonderful when a drama surprises you and turns out to be amazing 🙂 Yes, this one had so many interesting elements with the sci-fi theme, human/robot romance, and how well it was all put together. The drama ended up being so enjoyable! And you should definitely watch Goblin if you get a chance. It’s got a whole lot going for it too 🙂

Sadly, it was on DramaFever which is no longer available 😦 None of the other sites have picked it up so far. I think it’s on Viu if you’re in some parts of Asia. Hoping Viki will pick it up sometime for the rest of us.